Published online by Cambridge University Press: 26 May 2016
Although NLTE model atmospheres have been shown to resolve most of the equivalent width (EW) discrepancies for blue He I lines (Auer and Mihalas 1972, 1973), Wolff and Heasley (1984, 1985) have demonstrated that discrepancies remain for the leading members of the singlet/triplet 2P – nD series, viz. λ6678 and λ5876. These two lines are the strongest nonresonance He I transitions and are important because they respond to thermal changes in the superficial atmosphere (τ~ 10-3) of early B stars. In order to understand the observed rapid variations of the λ6678 line in mild Be stars, we undertook a survey of EWs of λ6678 and λ4388, namely the first and third member of the same series. These two lines have a log gf ratio of 15 but have similar EWs in B star spectra. Our new observations confirm the red line discrepancy noted by WH85 and point to additional EW differences among various groups of B stars not noted hitherto.